Types of Pet Rescue Centre and Animal Shelter

There are many different types of pet rescue centre and animal shelter in the UK. These range from the very large, national organisations such as the RSPCA, through to small locally run groups. Each type of rescue organisation has its own unique focus and strengths, but all rescue centres and animal shelters have the single focus of animal welfare as their goal.

Specialist Organisations

One of the benefits of the diverse range of animal welfare centres around the UK is that there are many specialist organisations that cater for certain types of pets. This type of shelter is perfect for the person who is looking for a specific breed or needs to rehome an animal with special needs.

The types of specialist animal welfare organisations that exist are rehoming centres to care for and rehome specific types of animal, such as guinea pigs or certain breeds of dogs. Others may care for just older pets, or animals that come from breeding farms. There are also specific centres who look after wild animals, for instance hedgehogs or badgers. These centres do not look to rehome wild animals, instead they will try to reintegrate them into their natural habitat.

Different Policies

Each organisation will have its own special policies. These include their rehoming criteria, such as whether a pet is to be neutered, only be housed with experienced owners or other specific requirements. Another important policy that people regard as being crucial is the organisation's policy on euthanasia. Some animal and pet welfare organisations have a policy of never euthanising a pet, others may use this as a last resort if a pet cannot be homed. Individual welfare organisations will be able to provide more information on their own policies on request.

Information and Education

In addition to rehoming pets and caring for lost and unwanted pets, one of the key roles of pet rescue centres and animal shelters is the provision of information and education. Better informed people make better pet owners and are less likely to abandon their pet or take it to a rescue centre to be rehomed. Many animal rescue centres and welfare organisations provide information on important aspects of looking after a pet, such as the importance of neutering and microchipping, how to care for a sick pet and other areas of owning and caring for a pet. Specialist pet rescue organisations can provide help and advice pertaining to a particular breed or type of pet and they will provide valuable support to families who adopt or give a home to one of their animals.

Finding Different Types of Rescue Organisation

While there are many different types of rescue centre spread throughout the UK, happily the Internet has helped to make finding these centres much easier than it would have been in the past. A simple search, using a search engine, will return a list of the different types of rescue centre available. There are also directories that provide a list of different types of organisation, animalsanctuaries.co.uk for instance, have a complete list of organisations spread throughout the UK.